Protestors arrested | Wells Fargo union-busting | Women in Apprenticeship

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

STRIKES

► From KING 5 — Trash delays hit dozens of Washington cities amid Teamsters strike expansion — Trash pickup delays are affecting dozens of cities across western Washington as a Teamsters strike against Republic Services expands, union officials and municipalities confirmed Tuesday. The work stoppage, led by Teamsters-affiliated employees demanding contract improvements, has now impacted waste collection in parts of King and Snohomish counties. Republic Services, one of the region’s largest waste haulers, is in contract negotiations with workers at five locations across the state.

LOCAL

► From RANGE Media — At least 9 Spokanites arrested by federal agents in connection to ICE protests — Early Tuesday morning, federal authorities executed arrest warrants on at least nine Spokanites who were part of the June 11 protest at Spokane’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office. The most surprising arrest, by far, though, is Jac Archer. Archer is a colleague of Forral’s at Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR) and was among the leaders of the June 11 protest, but crucially, they were not arrested that day. Forral, [Former City Councilmember] Stuckart and Lang were all arrested June 11, along with 28 other people. Forral was rearrested on June 14 as they walked into Spokane’s Pride Celebration. Many of the arrested had their phones taken. Archer’s arrest represents a real escalation by the US government to pursue federal charges against someone who had no local charges pressed.

► From the Seattle Times — Federal agents arrest Spokane ICE protesters — But the arrests were strongly criticized by Sen. Patty Murray, who called the federal charges a “gross abuse of federal resources.” “The Trump administration is abusing the force of the law to intimidate Americans exercising their First Amendment rights…” Stuckart, who was released Tuesday evening, must turn over his passport and notify authorities if he plans to take trips out of state. Stuckart’s attorney noted he may be traveling to Tacoma to attend a Thursday immigration hearing of the two men taken by ICE, which the judge allowed as part of his release conditions. The other seven defendants are prohibited from contacting other co-defendants about the case unless lawyers are present. Jeffry Finer, who is representing Jac Archer, called the no-contact order an “egregious misuse of power” in a city “this size” in court Tuesday, especially given the potential penalties for violating it, he said.

► From the NW Labor Press — Hundreds of union delegates to convene in Vancouver — An estimated 375 delegates representing close to 600,000 members of more than 650 local unions will assemble in Vancouver Hilton Hotel and Convention Center July 22-24 for the annual convention of the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC).  The convention is the state labor federation’s highest decision-making body, and will vote on a number of resolutions setting policy, including priorities to pursue in the state legislature.

► From the Washington State Standard — Deportation flights at WA airport up dramatically this year, advocates say — All of last year, 52 so-called “ICE Air” flights came into Washington. Those planes picked up at least 1,222 people transferred from the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma before likely deportation, according to the advocacy group La Resistencia, which has called for the detention center’s closure…Through six months this year, more migrants have already flown from Boeing Field, a total of 1,342, said Shikuma. And 913 people were brought in to be detained at the detention center. The facility, run by the for-profit GEO Group has long faced scrutiny over alleged human rights violations that have received renewed attention as President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign has reportedly strained capacity there.

► From the Cascadia Daily News — Federal judge grants detained Portland mother access to immigration attorney — The decision comes after the woman allegedly signed a voluntary return deportation document without being able to consult with her immigration lawyer, who couldn’t find her client for days. Merlos is originally from Honduras, while her children, a set of 9-year-old triplets and a 7-year-old daughter, were born in the U.S. and therefore are citizens…Merlos has a pending U-visa application and was granted work authorization through January 2029. She and her husband, Carlos, own a construction company in Portland. Merlos has been in the U.S. for at least 20 years.

► From My Northwest — 11 wildfires burning across WA, four classified as ‘large’ — The Hope Fire in Stevens County has burned more than 7,000 acres…Fifty miles south of the Hope Fire is the Western Pines Fire, currently at 5,800 acres in size. The fire, located near Davenport, has destroyed or damaged more than two dozen structures…In Okanogan County, a fire larger than 1,000 acres in size is currently burning.

ORGANIZING

► From the NW Labor Press — Providence St. Vincent staff unionize — A unit of nearly 1,100 medical technicians and service workers at Providence’s largest Oregon hospital voted 588-171 to unionize with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 49 in a unionization election held June 24-25. The new unit at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center is the second largest group of hospital workers to unionize in Oregon in the past five years.

NATIONAL

► From Banking Dive — Wells Fargo workers allege union-busting again — “There was definitely a perception of surveillance,” said Nick Weiner, organizations director for Wells Fargo Workers United, who has communicated directly with employees at the Apopka, Florida, branch where this allegedly happened. Employees rallied against the alleged union-busting in Charlotte on Tuesday morning, alongside representatives of the AFL-CIO and Communications Workers of America unions. The North Carolina city is home to one of Wells’ largest employee bases. The CWA filed an unfair labor practice report in June with the National Labor Relations Board regarding the alleged interrogation and coercion.

► From Game Developer — ‘Our lives were upended:’ ZeniMax union workers respond to Microsoft layoffs — Union workers at ZeniMax Online Studios have issued a public response to Microsoft’s latest round of mass layoffs, which reportedly impacted around 9,000 people including many within the company’s video game division. ZeniMax Online Studios United-CWA (ZOSU-CWA), one of a number of unions to have formed within Xbox Game Studios with support from the Communications Workers of America (CWA), said employees feel as if their “future has been stolen” by their parent company.

► From AP News — Judge will consider releasing Kilmar Abrego Garcia from jail, possibly leading to his deportation — A federal judge in Tennessee could rule Wednesday on whether to release Kilmar Abrego Garcia from jail to await trial on human smuggling charges, a decision that could allow President Donald Trump’s administration to try to deport the Maryland construction worker for a second time.

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the Government Executive — Trump administration narrows effort to nix project labor agreements for federal construction contracts — In a memo last month, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought seemingly faulted agencies for the controversy and said the administration actually supports the usage of project labor agreements in some instances. “Over the last several months, some agencies have issued overly broad Federal Acquisition Regulation deviations related to project labor agreements and the use of those agreements,” Vought wrote. “The deviations have signaled an inconsistent administration position relating to the use of PLAs. For clarity, the Trump administration supports the use of PLAs when those agreements are practicable and cost effective, and blanket deviations prohibiting the use of PLAs are precluded.”

► From the New York Times — H.H.S. Finalizes Thousands of Layoffs After Supreme Court Decision — Employees received notice of their termination late Monday, marking a turning point in the reshaping of the nation’s health care work force. Those let go included people who coordinated travel for overseas drug facility inspectors, communications staff members, public records officials and employees who oversaw contracts related to medical research…While many of the workers were described by the Trump administration as redundant or duplicative, critics have compared the cuts to leaving only doctors — and no support staff — to operate a hospital.

► From the Washington Post — Senate advances bill with Vance’s help to slash $9 billion from budget — The Senate voted Tuesday to advance President Donald Trump’s request to claw back $9 billion in foreign aid and federal funding for public broadcasting despite the misgivings of some Republicans. The vote was 51-50, with Vice President JD Vance breaking a tie after Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) broke with their party and voted with Democrats. Senators must now consider a series of other procedural hurdles and up to 10 hours of debate before a final floor vote; if that succeeds, the legislation would have to return to the House to be considered before Friday’s deadline.

► From the NW Labor Press — Chavez-DeRemer reboots women apprentice program — The July 9 news release sounded routine: U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced $5 million in funding for groups that work to recruit more women to registered apprenticeship programs. But that came as a surprise to potential grant recipients, because just months ago Chavez-DeRemer’s Labor Department was canceling already-awarded grants in the same program and proposing to eliminate both the program and the bureau that administers it.

► From the AP — Federal agency shifts stance on transgender discrimination complaints, but hurdles remain — The federal agency responsible for enforcing laws against workplace discrimination will allow some complaints filed by transgender workers to move forward, shifting course from earlier guidance that indefinitely stalled all such cases, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press…Colclough acknowledged in his July 1 email that the EEOC will consider transgender discrimination complaints that “fall squarely under” the Supreme Court’s ruling, such as cases involving hiring, firing and promotion. The email backtracked on an earlier policy, communicated verbally, that de-prioritized all transgender cases.

► From the NW Labor Press —  Cannabis grow workers get union rights — Agricultural workers in the United States don’t have the same collective bargaining rights and protections as other workers, but for a few thousand workers in Washington, that’s about to change. Starting July 27, agricultural cannabis workers in Washington will have a state-recognized right to unionize — and have those rights enforced if employers retaliate. House Bill 1141, which was signed into law April 22 by Gov. Bob Ferguson, gives the Washington Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) authority over collective bargaining for agricultural cannabis workers.

INTERNATIONAL

► From the Guardian — Hungary opposition figures urge Democrats to organize against autocratic takeover by Trump — Katalin Cseh, a critic of Hungary’s strongman prime minister, Viktor Orbán, told a forum on authoritarianism that the central European country’s experience held vital lessons for Trump’s opponents in their attempts to resist his assaults on US institutions and democratic norms since his return to the White House. “I invite everybody to study the processes that happened [in Hungary] and elsewhere, because autocratic learning is real,” said Cseh, a member of Hungary’s opposition Momentum Movement. “Backsliding just went by us like a train, without anybody realizing how far it had gotten. So it’s very important to pay attention from the very beginning … [and] to mobilize.”

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